The parish of St Nicholas is a parish of the Diocese of Sourozh, of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Moscow). The parish was founded with the blessing of Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, administrator of the diocese, in the summer of 2006. Although our parish is recently established, the tradition of Russian Orthodoxy has been maintained in the city of Oxford for over fifty years.

The first Russian Orthodox church in Oxford was founded in 1941, when Hieromonk Nicholas (Gibbes) arrived to live here. Fr Nicholas, formerly Charles Sydney Gibbes, had been employed by the Russian Imperial Family as the English tutor to Tsarevich Alexis. After the family's assassination, he eventually returned to England, settling in East Oxford. There he established a small Orthodox church within the medieval chapel of St Bartholomew (Bartlemas). In 1949 he purchased a house on Marston Street and established a chapel there, dedicated to St Nicholas the Wonderworker. The community which grew up around Fr Nicholas was the first significant Orthodox presence in Oxford, and his witness and ministry attracted a number of converts to Orthodoxy.

 

A permanent Russian Orthodox parish, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Mother of God, was established in the 1950s, and with the establishment of the House of St Gregory and St Macrina in 1959, services were held there in a house chapel, which was shared with the Greek Orthodox Community of the Holy Trinity. In 1973 the two parishes, having outgrown the house chapel, moved to a new church built in the garden of the house, as a permanent place of Orthodox worship which continues to this day. Many benefactors, both Orthodox and friends of Orthodoxy belonging to other Christian traditions, helped to make it possible to build the new church. From the outset, the church on Canterbury Road was envisaged as being a home for Orthodox of all local traditions.

 

In July 2006, following the move of the parish of the Annunciation from the Patriarchate of Moscow to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the new parish of St Nicholas the Wonderworker was established in Oxford with the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, the temporary administrator of the Diocese. Fr Stephen Platt, formerly the parish priest of the Parish of the Annunciation, was appointed Rector of St Nicholas' Parish, which was formally constituted in September 2006. As such, over fifty years after the foundation of the original chapel of St Nicholas, Oxford again has an Orthodox parish dedicated in his honour (see the life of St Nicholas for more on our parish's patron).

 

After a number of 'homeless years' when the parish was forced to rent worship space, the community acquired a derelict Anglican church  which in 2010 was renovated to become a most attractive place of Orthodox worship (see Our Parish Church for the fuller account of the Parish's quest for a permanent home) St Nicholas Orthodox Church is situated at 34 Ferry Road, Oxford OX3 0EU and a full cycle of services (see Schedule of Services) is celebrated there throughout the year.

Are you interested in becoming a member of our parish? Click here for information on how to become a member of the Parish of St Nicholas...